Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg wants to get all of the world’s 7 billion people online through a partnership with some of the largest mobile technology companies. He says the Internet is an essential part of life, and everyone deserves to be connected, whether they live in Norway, Nicaragua, or Namibia.

‘‘The Internet not only connects us to our friends, families, and communities, but it is also the foundation of the global knowledge economy,’’ Zuckerberg wrote in a paper posted to his Facebook page late Tuesday. The title asks ‘‘Is Connectivity A Human Right?’’

Of course, connecting more people to the Internet is the kind of philanthropy that would create more potential Facebook users, which would also help boost the company’s bottom line.

‘‘I think it is actually a profoundly important human right in the 21st century to have access to the Internet.’’

To get there, Facebook Inc. on Wednesday announced a partnership called Internet.org. It includes the world’s biggest social network, plus Korean electronics giant Samsung, Finnish handset maker Nokia, and wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc. More companies are expected to join.

Facebook said the group’s goal is to ‘‘make Internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected’’ — about 5 billion people.

Levinson called the venture ‘‘profoundly humanistic,” while adding that ‘‘at the same time, I would never say that Facebook is run by angels.’’

If the effort pays off, Facebook will grow its user base, advertising revenue, and influence. Business and philanthropy, in this case, can go hand in hand, Levinson said.

The group’s plans, still in an early phase, include developing cheaper smartphones and tools to reduce the amount of data required to run mobile applications. For Facebook, the move would certainly add more users to its 1.15 billion, and with them more advertising revenue. Still, Zuckerberg paints the effort as something larger.

‘‘For nine years, we’ve been on a mission to connect the world. We now connect more than 1 billion people, but to connect the next 5 billion we must solve a much bigger problem: The vast majority of people don’t have access to the Internet,’’ Zuckerberg wrote.